Learn to love eggplants
Bitter. Slimy. Mushy. Eggplant has has plenty of detractors who would be perfectly happy passing on those purple globes.
And what a shame. In the right hands, eggplant can be transformed into lush, indulgent and delicious dinners the whole family can enjoy. This week we’re going to explore some of the tips to keep in mind while working with eggplants and share four recipes that celebrate their qualities.
The timing couldn’t be better. Eggplants — they’re a nightshade in the same family as tomatoes, peppers and others — thrive in the summer heat and remain in season through midfall in Texas.
Bitterness is the most common complaint about eggplants. Many modern varieties of the plant have been bred to reduce this, but as the fruits (technically eggplant is a fruit, not a vegetable) ripen and develop seeds, that unpleasant flavor can creep in. And once the fruits are picked, an extended time on store shelves will amplify it.
Your best bet is to simply buy the freshest eggplants you can find, be it from a farmers market or grocery store. Look for fruits with shiny skin that feel firm and slightly heavy for their size. That means they haven’t overripened and developed spongy, seedy interiors.
If there’s still a lingering concern about bitterness, salt is your friend. Sprinkling the flesh of sliced or diced eggplant with salt and letting it set before cooking will draw out retained moisture and many of the bitter components inside the fruit. Just rinse it off and pat it dry before proceeding with your recipe.
Salt has a second benefit as well. Removing some of the eggplant’s water results in a denser, more meaty fruit, one less prone to becoming a soggy and mushy mess. And to take that a step further, press those salted bits of eggplant in a towel to remove even more liquid. You’ll collapse some of the air pockets in the flesh, leaving it less likely to absorb ridiculous quantities of oil when cooking — the frequent source of a “slimy” texture that puts many off of the plant for good.